TRAPPIST is the acronym for the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope. It is a pair of optic robotic telescopes. It is Belgian-made and operated and the first telescope began functioning in 2010. It was so named in honour of the Trappist monastic order of Belgium. The first telescope, called TRAPPIST – South is located in the Chilean mountains at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) La Silla Observatory. The second telescope, which went online in 2016, is called TRAPPIST – North and is located at Morocco’s Atlas Mountains in the Oukaïmden Observatory.

The telescopes are a joint venture of the University of Liège in Belgium and the Swiss Geneva Observatory. Its chief job is probing for exoplanets and comets. They have some autonomous features and are controlled from Leige.